The invention relates to a method and apparatus for loading a dumper with broken rock or corresponding material in such a manner that several bucketfuls of the material are loaded by a loader on a dump box in such a manner that the loader approaches the dumper transverse to it so that the material in the bucket of the loader can be emptied from the bucket to the dump box.
In mining or other quarrying operations, broken rock needs to be transported in different ways for further processing from the quarry to a processing site. Broken rock is typically first transported in loaders that fetch the broken rock and transport it to a loading site. Broken rock is transported on by dumpers, trains or the like that return to the loading site to fetch a new load. One typical transport method is that after fetching a bucketful of broken rock the loader empties it directly on the dump box. The dump box can typically take several bucketfuls, which means that when loading, the operator needs to empty the bucket at different points in both longitudinal and transverse direction of the dump box so as to fill the box as well as possible. Because the operator does not, however, see when the box is full, it is always to some extent unevenly filled, and the process difficult for the operator. The situation is the same when an autonomously moving dumper controlled by a computer is used, because the operator of the loader cannot see the inside of the box. New solutions are required, if a fully automated dumper loading is to be achieved, in which both the dumpers and loaders operate autonomously controlled by a computer.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a method and an apparatus, with which the loading of a dumper is easier and simpler than now and with which loading is more efficient than before.
The method of the invention is characterized in that the loading site has a predefined loading area, where the dumper is stopped in a predefined position for loading; that a predefined emptying area is defined for the loader in the loading area at the side of the dumper, to which the loader drives for the purpose of emptying the material in its bucket on the box of the dumper; that to fill the box of the dumper in the desired manner in transverse direction, the loader is stopped at different points transverse to the dumper, and thus longitudinal to the loader, according to the filling degree of the box and depending on the loading situation of the dump box area being loaded at the time; and that to load the dump box in its longitudinal direction in the desired manner, the dumper is moved, when one area of the box has been loaded, in longitudinal direction or the emptying area of the loader is moved in the longitudinal direction of the dumper a predefined distance so as to load the next area of the box.
Further, the apparatus of the invention is characterized in that it comprises control means for controlling the dumper at least during loading; that the control means comprise means for stopping the dumper in the loading area in a predefined position so that the material transported by the loader can be emptied on the dump box at a predefined point in its longitudinal direction and, when the dump box is loaded at a certain longitudinal point of the box, for moving the dumper in longitudinal direction or for moving the emptying area of the loader in the longitudinal direction of the dumper a predefined distance so as to load the next area of the box.
An essential idea of the invention is that the dumper is most preferably stopped automatically in a specific predefined loading area, to which the loader in turn transports a load along a specific route that is transverse to the direction of travel of the dumper to a predefined emptying area at the side of the dumper and empties its bucket on the dump box at different points in the transverse direction of the dump box depending on the loading situation. This way, the filling of the box is controlled in its transverse direction by driving the loader either further away from the dumper or closer to it depending on which side of the box the load is to be emptied. A further essential idea of the invention is that during loading, the dumper is moved most preferably automatically in its longitudinal direction in a manner suitable for the loading so that the load emptied from the loader drops on the dump box at a suitable point in its longitudinal direction, in which case the longitudinal filling of the box is correspondingly controlled by moving the dumper to a suitable point. This way, the dump box can be appropriately filled by controlling the filling of the box in the longitudinal direction of the dumper by means of the longitudinal position of the dumper and in the transverse direction by means of the longitudinal position of the loader. The essential idea of a preferred embodiment of the invention is that it comprises separate measuring means for measuring the amount of load on the dump box: height, weight, etc., and for controlling the loading on the basis of the measurements in such a manner that when the amount of the load on the dump box at the current loading point exceeds a predefined value, the dumper is moved in its longitudinal direction or the emptying area of the loader is moved in the longitudinal direction of the dumper so that the next load brought by the loader drops at an emptier point of the box, or if the entire box is full, the dumper leaves to empty the box most preferably automatically controlled by a computer. According to a second preferred embodiment of the invention, the loading site is such that in a loading situation, the dumper is substantially lower than the loader, preferably below the loading area of the loader. According to yet another preferred embodiment of the invention, the loading site has a funnel-shaped guide located above the dump box in the loading situation so that the broken rock from the bucket of the loader drops entirely inside the dump box.
The invention provides the advantage that with the use of an automatically controlled dumper, loading can be automated and controlled easily so that the load transported by the loader always drops on a suitable area of the box so as to have a sufficiently high load in the dumper suitably distributed on the entire box. In fully automated loading, where both the loader and the dumper operate automatically under the control of a computer, the control and guidance of loading is simple and easy, because the longitudinal filling of the box is most preferably controlled by moving the dumper and, correspondingly, the transverse filling is controlled by guiding the movement of the loader in its longitudinal direction, which makes the control simple and easy. This, in turn, is based on the fact that it is necessary to control only the movement and length of movement of either machine in one direction and complex and difficult two-dimensional movement control is not needed.